Influence of Corrugation Profile on the Thermalhydraulic Performance of Cross-Corrugated Plates

Abstract

This article presents a numerical investigation on the thermalhydraulic performance of cross-corrugated plates, commonly employed in plate and compact heat exchangers. Three-dimensional numerical predictions were obtained using a finite volume method and a validated low Reynolds number k-ϵ turbulence model. The influences of Reynolds number, corrugation inclination angle, and especially corrugation profile on flow and heat transfer were studied and discussed. The velocity, temperature, local Nusselt number distribution, and the path line were presented for cross-corrugated plates with sinusoidal, isosceles triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular, and elliptic corrugations. The average Nusselt number Nu and the friction factor f were calculated and correlated with the Reynolds number. Thermalhydraulic performance was evaluated in terms of the heat transfer and pressure drop. Nu and f are about 1–4 times higher for the trapezoidal channel than for the elliptic channel, indicating significant influence of the corrugation profile. Optimal structures are among those with smooth corrugation shapes and small inclination angles.